V-Flyer

Hi all,

this was a quick/cheap trip to the Sunshine State, as I was having withdrawal symptoms. I arrived at the airport just after 8am, and dropped the car in T2 long stay. Arriving in T2 I found myself and one of the flight deck crew looking for the check in desks which had moved from their normal location to a more central one - appears to be part of the changes to accommodate other airlines. Check in was pretty empty, but I only needed the bag drop having secured SEQ1 the day before. I'm not sure that the agent event said hello, and only spoke to ask how many bags I was checking in - great start!

As I was travelling alone this time, I decided to treat myself to a lounge pass, so I tried the Styal Lounge which was nice, probably better value if you like to drink alcohol before lunchtime, not something I tend to do normally let alone before a long haul flight, but that didn't stop the guy next to me having 3 cans of Guinness in the time I was there - and he was on my flight.

Unfortunately (for me anyway), there's not much of a view from the lounge, and I quite like watching the airport and what's happening, so I decided to wander down to the gate before the flight was called. As I arrived at the end of the terminal, there was the small matter of an absent plane - which we were duly notified was waiting to be towed from a remote stand, as it didn't fly the day before. I have noticed that they only seem to be operating one flight using a 747 on Tuesday's at the moment - my return flight at the end of Jan has also been switched.

Finally G-VSXY appeared from across the airport and arrived at the gate at about 10.15am, so no chance of an on-time departure that day, but at least the crew were all ready to go and priority boarding was quickly underway - before this I did also notice one of the ground staff handing out kid packs to any children waiting in the gate area, rather than on the air bridge.

Up until about 2 days before the flight, it seemed to be fairly open, but on the Monday the seat map was closed down and and my original seat selection disappeared and I was repositioned into 31A, still a window seat and close to the front for a quick get away (which proved very useful). At the gate area, it already appeared to be a fairly full flight now - and I'm wondering if it was anything to do with the 73 not operating the day before. I settled into my seat and was pleasantly surprised with the legroom which was better than I was expecting, and stayed that way as the child in front didn't recline their seat.

The crew were very cheery and pleasant throughout the flight, and also had a number of passengers with disabilities to accommodate, a parent of which was sat next to me. We took off at 11.20 and headed West out over Dublin, by which point the IFE was turned on. Having flown on the new ANZ 777 earlier this year, it was soon apparent that this was pretty much the same system only without the food/drink ordering system, but it is a massive improvement and I managed to watch 2 and a half films on the way out, which is not something I've done for ages on the Nova system.

Food was served and I had the sausage & mash which was nice. The smaller/revised food service seemed to work ok on this flight, even as busy as it was, I just wish there was somewhere better to put your glass while eating food, as there still isn't enough room on the table, a small drop down holder from the back of the seat would be more helpful. An ice cream was also served later in the flight before the sandwiches about 90mins before landing. The flight was fairly smooth all the way across, even trying to race a 747 along the way. We flew across the Atlantic for the whole flight, so there wasn't much else to see before we headed in just north of Kennedy Space Centre, and were down on the ground just after 4pm. At this point, I noticed the Gatwick 747 flight taxiing to the terminal ahead of us - aargh!!

As we arrived at the gate, the flight deck thought it would be wise to advise his passengers of this dilemma, and that we should all try to make our way to immigration as quickly as possible to try and beat the rush. Just before landing I did notice that the cabin crew moved a party of 3 from the side of me to the back row of PE as their adult son suffered from a form of autism, allowing them to disembark ahead of everyone, which was a very nice touch.

Even with the crew holding back the economy passengers to allow everyone in PE off first, I was still one of the first passengers off and made a swift walk to immigration, and made it into the first row of the queue, which quickly became 6 rows! I even saw one of the security staff start to bring through families with small children to the front of the queue, which was a bit surprising as they are normally so rigid and stick to their rules, so I did actually say to him that it was nice to see someone using a bit of initiative.

My bag was already on the carousel by the time I got through (approx 15 mins) and I headed onto the monorail with bag in tow, and out to find my parents and a waiting can of Mountain Dew!

Overall, the plane and it's entertainment system are a vast improvement, the seat did get a bit uncomfortable after a while, but I think that was partially because I was on my own and didn't get up much so as not to disturb the passenger in the aisle seat. Great crew, as seems to be quite common on the flights I've taken from Man.

Wow - didn't plan on writing that much! Cheers

Great TR, thank you for taking the time to write.

Glad to hear of a good experience on the a333.

I enjoyed your TR - the reports on the new menu service appear positive. Congrats on Seq 1.

Another good experience in Y on the A333 - thanks for sharing.

Not long until your next trip!

Jon

Sunny23

Ace on getting SEQ1 and for giving an excellent TR to boot

Having experienced that Immigration queue at first hand, you did well to get through as quick as you did

buns

Thanks for both the TRs and the enthusiasm about Economy.

sunny23uk wrote: I even saw one of the security staff start to bring through families with small children to the front of the queue, which was a bit surprising as they are normally so rigid and stick to their rules, so I did actually say to him that it was nice to see someone using a bit of initiative.

I've noticed this on after a couple of flights this year, and to me it makes sense as it reduces the overall tension in a long queue.

sunny23uk wrote: out to find my parents and a waiting can of Mountain Dew!

Have to ask, what did you do to annoy them so much ?

I prefer to catch the 75 if I can to avoid the immigration queue from hell when arriving later - my parents took around 90 minutes to get through 5 weeks earlier, arriving on the VS73 behind the VS27 flight and the BA flight - the queue was into the corridor at the back of the immigration hall! Hence my desire to get off as quickly as possible.

Mmmm, Mountain Dew - far better than banana custard IMHO

Thank you for the great Tr.